The Cursed Ring
by Flame Auror
Summary: That moment of desperation, just one irrational reckless decision changes everything. Dumbledore puts on the ring even though he knows its cursed and embarks on a journey to meet Grindelwald for one last time and can he see his parents and his sister Ariana again? To ask for forgiveness of one fault that took place 98 years ago? That changed his perspective of love? R&R
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter**

 **A/N: Well, Hi, enjoy reading the fanfiction.**

The sun was going down the horizon leaving the normal blue sky in an orange hue, the last rays disappearing from view as the tall shadow walked down the road with a mindset of rigidity that the supposed work should be done at the earliest.

The muggles stared at the tall thin man who had a silver hair and beard so long that he had tucked it in a weird kind of long dress (robe). Dumbledore straightened his half moon glasses. He wondered why the young girl giggled at him, atleast he realized it was nothing to do with his clothes and he also caught a young man staring at his beard with envy. Dumbledore so wanted to use legilimency but he shouldn't, on a muggle. His glance averted to a sweet shop and his hand reached for his robe extracting muggle notes from them but he scrunched his face up and put it back reprimanding himself for his lack of self control.

Dumbledore finally crossed the distance from which he could apparate to his destined place and he walked into the washroom of a fancy restaurant and he glanced at the muggle toilet but he had to control the urge to explore more about them, he would always have time, he is just 112 year young after all. He withdrew his wand and disapparated and landed in front of a luxurious not so luxurious anymore mansion, its paints withering but its extravagant look still showing its prestigious honor but it had lost its touch, the overgrown weeds in the garden showed the lack of care and Dumbledore knew the reason of the overgrown weeds, Frank Bryce was dead. A deep pain of loss crossed Dumbledore knowing now no one wanted the house and it was on sale, he closed his eyes, his hand clutched to his heart, not literally of course, he mouthed slowly to himself or the adventurers beyond the world of living, in the world of death "Rest in peace Tom Riddle Sr., Thomas and Mary Riddle"

The evening grew darker, with the tiniest hint of dark blue against the grey angry looking clouds.

"You buying that?" a voice came from behind and Dumbledore turned in a dramatic pace to see a man with unshaven face who was puffing smoke from his pipe which was almost irritating Dumbledore's windpipe but he didn't cough because he wanted to hear the man's answer when he shook his head.

"Good, the house is cursed" he muttered to himself as if going through the history of the house in his mind "4 murders you see" he added quietly

"Thank you" Dumbledore said politely and the man dismissed his hand in a wave as if to say 'it was really nothing'. Dumbledore continued on his evening adventure wondering if all the residents of Little Hangleton thought the place was haunted, this brought the tiniest smile on his face.

The walk wasn't as exhausting as the thinking of his brain was and he stopped in front of some trees and he found his way as he slid through the trees due to his lanky figure and he found it, his place of destination for the evening, the Marvolo Gaunt's house. He remember the memory and it didn't seem too old because the old ruined house looked exactly like it was when Odgen had visited it, the snake still hung to the door showing the Slytherin pride even in the almost ruins. He walked up the front lawn to the door and he didn't need magic to open it, just a push was enough to give it a creaky open. The stood near the door letting the risen dust to settle feeling it, he could feel it and he knew this was not a random rabbit chase but he had found it for real and that made him feel all tingly and 100 years younger. It was pushing him, it is strong and it is definitely pushing him away but he closed the door behind him and walked to the shelf looking and rummaging inside weird looking objects of where it might be hidden, maybe too well hidden. He walked around and the floorboard creaked, his intuitions were right and he knelt on the ground, the wand will be easier but most probably it won't work. Dumbledore took a deep breath and started tapping the floor and at one place in the almost corner of the room he felt the floor to be hollow and he used his wand removing the wood in that section with ease and he sucked in a breath when he saw a golden box not too neatly hidden.

His hands itched with anticipation and he trailed his finger on the seam of the box and he took it out and he started waving his wand in complex motions and it opened, just with a small sound and he opened it, his face flushed with victory and apprehension of finding it and there it lay, embedded to a gold ring, presumed to be a coat of arms by its former owner, the one he needed to destroy, the one that made him fall in love, the one which broke his heart into million shattered pieces, the one that cost him the most valuable thing in his life, there it lay, the last of the hallows, the resurrecting stone.

Dumbledore knew he wasn't the owner but still he couldn't help thinking just once? He shook his head firmly and he slid the ring in his pocket and disapparated into Hogsmeade. He walked briskly towards the castle, he looked at it and he knew one thing, so sure that he will do it at any cost, protect those innocent kids who dream to be in Hogwarts from that evil. He wouldn't let anyone influence those kids into doing wrong and even if it cost him his life he would fight for the greater good.

There was a curse, he knew but just one time wouldn't matter, after that he would give it away to its rightful owner but just one try, just one chance to redeem the past deeds, just one chance to know if he was forgiven, just the chance to let them know he would regret it for the rest of his life and would never move on, he was such a hypocrite, asking others to move on with their life but he still pined for that forgiveness for the foolishness. The feeling was overwhelming, he looked at the portraits that seem to be sleeping or pretending to do so, it was a reckless decision but he took out the ring in an instant and put it on, the reaction was spontaneous, he felt all the blood in his being sucked out, all his bones cracking and he swayed dangerously and sat on his chair, his fingers were cramped and it was moving to all places. _"Too weak"_ he thought when he saw his weak patronus fly away to get Severus Snape. Or maybe too late…

 **A/N: Thank you for reading it, it has just another chapter. I hoped you liked it and please do leave a review, it would make my day.**


	2. Chapter 2

And now Harry stood in the headmaster's office yet again. It was nighttime, and Dumbledore sagged sideways in the thronelike chair behind the desk, apparently semiconscious. His right hand dangled over the side, blackened and burned. Snape was muttering incantations, pointing his wand at the wrist of the hand, while with his left hand he tipped a goblet full of thick golden potion down Dumbledore's throat. After a moment or two, Dumbledore's eyelids fluttered and opened.

"Why," said Snape, without preamble, "why did you put on that ring? It carries a curse, surely you realized that. Why even touch it?"

Marvolo Gaunt's ring lay on the desk before Dumbledore. It was cracked; the sword of Gryffindor lay beside it. Dumbledore grimaced.

"I…was a fool. Sorely tempted…"

"Tempted by what?"

Dumbledore did not answer.

"It is a miracle you managed to return here!" Snape sounded furious. "That ring carried a curse of extraordinary power, to contain it is all we can hope for; I have trapped the curse in one hand for the time being – "

Dumbledore raised his blackened, useless hand, and examined it with the expression of one being shown an interesting curio.

"You have done very well, Severus. How long do you think I have?"

Dumbledore's tone was conversational; he might have been asking for a weather forecast. Snape hesitated, and then said, "I cannot tell. Maybe a year. There is no halting such a spell forever. It will spread eventually; it is the sort of curse that strengthens overtime."

Dumbledore smiled. The news that he had less than a year to live seemed a matter of little or no concern to him.

"I am fortunate, extremely fortunate, that I have you, Severus."

"If you had only summoned me a little earlier, I might have been able to do more, buy you more time!" said Snape furiously. He looked down at the broken ring and the sword. "Did you think that breaking the ring would break the curse?"

"Something like that…I was delirious, no doubt…" said Dumbledore. With an effort he straightened himself in his chair. "Well, really, this makes matters much more straightforward."

Snape looked utterly perplexed. Dumbledore smiled.

Dumbledore stared after the Snape and then walked to his room and burst into tears, he had never imagined to see a lover like Snape. He wiped his tears remembering what his love cost him and raised his blackened hand in grimace and then laid down on the bed staring at the ceiling noting the points he had to do next morning.

"Minerva," Dumbledore said the next morning "How is everything going on?"

Professor McGonagall frowned "He is surly and adamant, I want Tuesdays and Saturdays for Quidditch practice but he always fights for Saturdays in a belief they will get more training. Bah! They will keep losing!" she muttered and Dumbledore smiled politely.

"I haven't seen you in such temper since what Umbridge's reign?" he asked and she scowled "Don't mention her name! In a duel I will not let her plead mercy, I'll kill such insanity"

Dumbledore laughed "Lemon drops?" he offered.

This is what he loved; the sessions with McGonagall always made him feel better except she kept pestering him about his hand. As the sun went down the horizon he bid her farewell and when she left he walked out to the grounds, down the Hogsmeade village, with the ring still on him.

He apparated in front of a building in utter ruins and ducked when a bat flew right above his head. Dumbledore placed his hand on his heart which was beating frantically and his eyes flickered on the small board to the entrance of the building "FOR THE GREATER GOOD" and tears filled his eyes.

He opened the gate magically and walked up to the last hallway to the last room, the door opened with a loud creak. A frail man lay on the hard bed staring at the door with wide eyes. Dumbledore's heart skipped a beat as the man grinned in recognition, showing his broken teeth. This wasn't how he had imagined it to be, the handsome man with golden brown locks, smiling at every joke he cracked, the deep discussions on the articles he wrote.

"Albus, at last we meet again" Gellert Grindelwald said sitting up. "Grindelwald" Dumbledore said.

"United them already?" Grindelwald asked and Dumbledore stared at him. Grindelwald grinned "You don't know how to use the resurrection stone?"

"How are you?" Dumbledore asked. "Just turn it thrice in your hands Albus and yes I'm as fine as you see me"

"Nice seeing you Gellert" Dumbledore said and extracted the latest magazine of Transfiguration today and handed it to Grindelwald. He turned his back to Grindelwald and blinked back tears and opened the door to escape the torture his heart was causing him.

"It was me" Grindelwald whispered and Dumbledore whirled around suddenly. "That's why I fled, because I didn't want a murder on my head, it wasn't any of you, Dumbledore, I killed Ariana"

"Right" Dumbledore said and turned back again "It doesn't make a difference now, I killed her and I will always live with the guilt and I killed Ariana, my ignorance, my stupidity killed her and…" he whispered and ran out of the door, not feeling the Gryffindor in him at all.

OoO

Dumbledore sat in his room staring at the ring in his palm and he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and twirled it in his hand. He gulped and opened his eyes and a wave of shock whizzed inside him as he saw his parents in front of him, younger than him. He touched the air and smiled "Ma" he whispered and they smiled, his heart slashed when he saw Ariana behind his mother.

"I was such a dunderhead, I'm sorry mom, you thought I would excel but I failed, I'm so sorry" he whispered. "You are despicable" his father spat and Dumbledore shouted "Dad wait…mom" and got up suddenly and rubbed the sweat off his forehead "Nightmare, just a nightmare" he soothed himself and glanced at the ring on his table and he knew he was and never will be the right owner to it and he already knew who the owner was and he decided never to use it. He put on the ring as a remembrance to the incident and what it cost him.

 **A/N : Sorry if it's a little boring, I was in a sleepy mood. Here goes the shameless self promotion, please do check my other fanfictions like The Tarnished Ties and Illusion of Life. See ya and I hope you liked the chapter. Review! I am selfish and need more and more reviews!**


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